Fans React to Possible Incest in Oshi no Ko

This article contains spoilers for the "Oshi no Ko" manga. Discretion is advised to the reader.

If you've followed the popular "Oshi no Ko" manga to date, you'll know that incest has become a recurring theme among fans. The subject, in fact, is not an invention, since both Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari have been in charge of giving romantic overtones to the relationship between the Ruby brothers and Aqua Hoshino.

You probably know the context between these two characters (otherwise, why would you be reading this article?), but we'll explain it again. "Oshi no Ko" is the story of two twin brothers, sons of legendary and deceased idol Ai Hoshino, who try to pull through and uncover the mysteries behind their mother's murder. Aqua Hoshino, the brother, is the reincarnation of Gorou Amemiya, a gynecologist who is a fan of Ai Hoshino and who attended to her pregnancy; and Ruby Hoshino, the sister, is the reincarnation of Serina Tendoji, a terminally ill girl cared for by Gorou and also a fan of Ai.

Serina's sad story took on color again during the last months of her life, thanks in large part to her fanaticism towards Ai Hoshino and her infatuation with her doctor, Gorou himself. Thanks to both retaining the memories of their past lives, Aqua eventually confesses to Ruby that he is the reincarnation of her doctor, which shocks Ruby. However, this also revives Serina's (now Ruby) love interest towards Gorou (now Aqua).

This infatuation is fine if you look at it from the psychological side (since they are both, mentally, different people than they are now), but from the physical side it's another story. Being twin brothers, a romance between the two is unthinkable in society, and it is precisely a point that has drawn attention in the development of the most recent story arc.

Well, the "Documentary Arc" is currently underway, where Aqua is producing a biopic of her mother, Ai Hoshino, in which she plans to reveal the whole truth of her life to try to attract the attention of her biological father and architect of her mother's murder. As the tension builds during the recordings, Ruby plays the role of her mother and Aqua plays the role of her father. And it's clear that this involves there being at least one kiss scene between the two.

The twin brothers kissing? The most recent episode even ended with Ruby proposing to Aqua that they kiss, as part of "a practice." While the fact that the authors play with the theme of incest without actually carrying it out is interesting, some consider that they are already "abusing the subject" and introduce these types of scenes just to make the manga relevant.

And of course, the comments were not long in coming:

• "We can practice the kiss scene now." Aka Akasaka, will we do this now? Right here? Right now?"
• "The conversation between the twins would be a reflection of the conversation between the authors. Aqua is Aka Akasaka being uncomfortable with incest, and Mengo is Ruby telling him not to be a coward and to face the consequences."
• "I don't remember well, but didn't Mengo-sensei say on Twitter that Akasaka-sensei was responsible for the idea of linking Aqua and Ruby romantically?"
• "I'm so sorry for Ruby. Look how reluctant she is to kiss her own brother! She absolutely doesn't want it, but she's a super professional actress! She even tries to practice because she's a dedicated actress! Feel sad. Cry."
• "There's no star in Ruby's eye in the last panel, so I was actually talking to Aqua as Sarina... By the way, Aqua didn't flatly reject both the mangaka's suggestion and Ruby's. Edit: the next chapter will come out on 3/13, which is one day before White Day, in which people give each other reciprocal gifts to those they received on Valentine's Day."
• "The only obstacle (and it's the size of Everest) between them is their blood relationship, as emotionally, they knew from almost birth that they are both reincarnated, so the bonds of brotherhood between them might not be as deep as the usual siblings (again this is my opinion), but fuck it, We're going to jump right into this, I want to see the world burn."
• "Aqua will emotionally manipulate people, plan murders, but will put the limit on incest. Evil has rules."
• "Aqua only accepts the mother's type of incest, not the sister's. That's why he made Akane his first girlfriend. If Ruby really wants a chance with him, she has to put the wig back on."
• "The spirit of Oreimo lives on. Make it happen, Aka!"
• "Those two mangaka are totally self-inserted trying to justify this shit, I'm all over them, I've seen them at their worst."
• "People are going to make a fuss about incest again, which is precisely what Aka and Mengo want."
• "I'm glad Aqua is weird for now. It gives me some hope. I guess the next chapter we'll see if I've really misunderstood what this manga is about."
• "Last time, after the twins reconciled, they somehow managed to get both sides to hold their backs, the world would burn if they did it again this time, at least if they chose a side, maybe only half the world would burn?"
• "The next chapter will be either the most brutal rejection since Rem from Re:ZERO, or the most sloppy and incestuous tongue fucking since Game of Thrones. The fact that it could go either way scares me. I've never been so scared by a manga since Gojo vs Sukuna."

Source: Reddit